engleski

The Power-discourse Relationship in a Croatian Higher Education Setting

Croatian higher education system's public space is researched through a critical analysis of a Croatian faculty's discourse. Representing a typical faculty social situation, two council meetings--recorded in minutes--are critiqued. Both meetings' minutes provide evidence of discourse strategies of deception used by faculty power holders to create an illuson of consent. We attribute the success of the deception to council members' ideas about the Faculty's groups/individuals, relations and issues related to the Faculty's hierarchy, their rank within that hierarchy, and their position within the Faculty's social network. To support our argument, we explore how the Faculty power holders' discourse is built on a power/ideology/language formation. We conclude that, failing to critique the faculty's discourse, council members neglected their historical task of paving the way to democracy.

Croatian higher education; distribution of social power; critical discourse analysis

Rad je nastao u okviru zajedničkog trogodišnjeg (1997-2000) projekta Ministarstva znanosti Republike Hrvatske (MOST) i British Councila: "Hotel and Tourism Management Education Development" (ALIS LINK ZAG/984/CRO032).